Not a lock, but I definitely think we've been coasting so far this season.

Teams with big rebounders will give us trouble. Indiana is probably the team I am most concerned about, then probably the Knicks. Chicago with a healthy Rose is also a very tough test.

We'll see I guess!

Yep. Indiana's been playing very well lately without Danny Granger, just beat Miami without him, and did go up against the Heat last year in the playoffs. Who knows, without Tom Crean's film session/motivational talk with D-Wade half-way through that series (damn you, Tom Crean), Indy could have won that series.

This year, we don't have the scoring, but Paul George has become 2/3rds of Danny Granger on offense, and even though Hibbert is worthless on offense, his defensive impact is absolutely in the top 5 of Centers in the NBA.

I think Indiana is a nightmare matchup for Miami because we have some many different players to throw at LBJ and DWade. It'd take Bosh exposing Hibbert off the dribble and on the perimeter, and Mario Chalmers having a few big games, for Miami to decisively beat Indiana.

Of course, NYK is solid as well, but I think they're going to lose steam with Amar'e coming back and with some of their older rotational players waning as the season progresses. Melo's still incredible, but you can't rely on consistent offense from Raymond Felton, JR Smith, and this Amar'e Stoudemire.

Everyone keeps talking about the "Leastern Conference", but you just named 4 teams with a chance to make the Finals, I'd also throw in the Nets so there's 5. The Hawks are also a quality team, and so is Philly if Bynum's career isn't over.

Its not like there's any more teams with a chance to win it all in the West. They have a better middle of the pack, but that always bothers me because who the **** cares about those teams anyways?

Record wise the East holds 4 of the top 10 teams right now. So I don't really get the huge gap people keep trying to paint.

Well let's see. The Nets certainly haven't played like a contender this year, so they're out. I love the Hawks but they aren't nearly talented enough. Bynum's career hopefully isn't over but he's not going to be affecting anything this year.

That leaves four teams - Miami: (who I indicated as the favorite) Chicago: who I said could make a difference if fully healthy but will almost certainly not be fully healthy so you can essentially cross them out. New York: Somewhat a threat, and Indiana: somewhat a threat if fully healthy and that's a huge question mark.

The west has the Thunder, Grizzlies, Clippers, and Spurs as sure fire contedners. Then they've got a Lakers team that could jell at any moment and disrupt the entire heirarchy of the league, and a Golden State team that has played as well as any of the "other" eastern conference teams so far. Maybe it's not as gigantic of a gap as it once was, but it's still the Least.

Nobody is ever a lock to make the finals, but Miami is as close as it gets. Barring a LeBron injury or Wade playing like an idiot like he did for stretches in the playoffs last year, I don't see anyone stopping them.

Well let's see. The Nets certainly haven't played like a contender this year, so they're out. I love the Hawks but they aren't nearly talented enough. Bynum's career hopefully isn't over but he's not going to be affecting anything this year.

That leaves four teams - Miami: (who I indicated as the favorite) Chicago: who I said could make a difference if fully healthy but will almost certainly not be fully healthy so you can essentially cross them out. New York: Somewhat a threat, and Indiana: somewhat a threat if fully healthy and that's a huge question mark.

The west has the Thunder, Grizzlies, Clippers, and Spurs as sure fire contedners. Then they've got a Lakers team that could jell at any moment and disrupt the entire heirarchy of the league, and a Golden State team that has played as well as any of the "other" eastern conference teams so far. Maybe it's not as gigantic of a gap as it once was, but it's still the Least.

See, this is why I basically just ignore your posts.

Its because they're homesish bullshit and you have one of the most tainted views on the board.

Right now Miami has the fifth best record in the NBA and they are only a half a game ahead of the Knicks and a game ahead of Warriors. They are 3.5 ahead of the 8th seed in the West. It seems to me that this should be cause for concern.

Right now Miami has the fifth best record in the NBA and they are only a half a game ahead of the Knicks and a game ahead of Warriors. They are 3.5 ahead of the 8th seed in the West. It seems to me that this should be cause for concern.

It's the regular season. The Heat truly don't care what their regular season record is. I don't think it's much a cause for concern at all.

Right now Miami has the fifth best record in the NBA and they are only a half a game ahead of the Knicks and a game ahead of Warriors. They are 3.5 ahead of the 8th seed in the West. It seems to me that this should be cause for concern.

If the teams with the two best records were automatically awarded finals berths then I would agree.

Its because they're homesish bullshit and you have one of the most tainted views on the board.

Its ridiculous. Not to mention, much like EH, you're never wrong.

Neither team has played well, but the Lakers have a hell of a lot more talent on paper. And I'm a homer? Aren't you the one throwing hissy fits at anyone that isn't mentioning Indiana? All I said was that they could jell at some point.

And considering you respond to the majority of my posts I don't really understand your first sentence.

Neither team has played well, but the Lakers have a hell of a lot more talent on paper. And I'm a homer? Aren't you the one throwing hissy fits at anyone that isn't mentioning Indiana? All I said was that they could jell at some point.

And considering you respond to the majority of my posts I don't really understand your first sentence.

I just hope you understand how blatantly bottom of the barrel your posting is.

The funny part is when you try to explain basketball to people. You so clearly don't understand most of the game in the first place, and what little you do is so skewed by being a ridiculous homer that its worthless anyways.

But hey, you don't look at stats, watch pretty much every single game ever, and you're never wrong.

I just hope you understand how blatantly bottom of the barrel your posting is.

The funny part is when you try to explain basketball to people. You so clearly don't understand most of the game in the first place, and what little you do is so skewed by being a ridiculous homer that its worthless anyways.

But hey, you don't look at stats, watch pretty much every single game ever, and you're never wrong.

I just hope you understand how blatantly bottom of the barrel your posting is.

The funny part is when you try to explain basketball to people. You so clearly don't understand most of the game in the first place, and what little you do is so skewed by being a ridiculous homer that its worthless anyways.

But hey, you don't look at stats, watch pretty much every single game ever, and you're never wrong.

Bottom of the barrel posting? You're really not holding back sweetheart.

I don't think I "understand" basketball better than everyone else on this site. You believe that I think I understand basketball better than everyone on this site and whine about it at some point in every argument we have. It's adorable. And you're a bigger homer than I am so I'm not really seeing where you're going with this.

I try not to base my opinions about a fluid sport on a bunch of numbers, true. Do I watch every single game ever? Absolutely not, I don't even watch a game a night on a regular week. You made that up in one of your emotional rants about me. But I do try and base my opinions off of the games that I do watch, and I think that's probably the best way to go about evaluating basketball on the internet.

Bottom of the barrel posting? You're really not holding back sweetheart.

I don't think I "understand" basketball better than everyone else on this site. You believe that I think I understand basketball better than everyone on this site and whine about it at some point in every argument we have. It's adorable. And you're a bigger homer than I am so I'm not really seeing where you're going with this.

I try not to base my opinions about a fluid sport on a bunch of numbers, true. Do I watch every single game ever? Absolutely not, I don't even watch a game a night on a regular week. You made that up in one of your emotional rants about me. But I do try and base my opinions off of the games that I do watch, and I think that's probably the best way to go about evaluating basketball on the internet.

Again, thanks for playing and better luck next time.

Better luck next time?

Read the last page Luke. Unless you're saying better luck next time in encouragement to your own next attempt, you're delusional.